How to comply with Google's CMP requirements as a gaming publisher?

Earlier this year, Google introduced its new Consent Management Platform (CMP) requirements for publishers and developers. 

If you’re a gaming publisher using Google products such as Google AdSense, Ad Manager, or AdMob, and running advertising campaigns in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK), this applies to you.

In this article, we break down the new requirements and cover what gaming publishers need to do to comply and continue using Google publishing products.

Summary

• Google new CMP requirements: the context for gaming publishers
• What can gaming publishers do now to be compliant?
• Get started with the Didomi Consent Management Platform (CMP)

Google new CMP requirements: the context for gaming publishers

Going forward and according to Google Consent Management Platform (CMP) requirements, publishers with traffic from the EEA and the UK using Google Adtech products will be required to use a Google-certified CMP.

That certification is awarded to CMP providers that are compliant with IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) v2.2, among other requirements. Thankfully, Didomi was one of the first CMP providers to partner with Google for this program, so you’re in the right place.

In concrete terms, what does that mean for you? 

• If you serve ads to your users, specifically those in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK, you must collect their consent.
• If you were previously displaying a simple pop-up showcasing your Terms of Service or privacy policy, it’s not going to cut it anymore.
• Going forward, you'll now need to use a specific platform that has been vetted by Google, like Didomi.

Let’s look at what a CMP does specifically, and how you can get started to make sure you are allowed to continue using Google AdTech products.

Bonus: To learn more about the Google CMP certification, the IAB TCF v2.2, and what are the next steps for organizations, watch the recording of our last webinar with Google:

What can gaming publishers do now to be compliant?

If you’re unfamiliar with what a Consent Management Platform (CMP) is, let’s start there. According to software review aggregator G2, a Consent Management Platform must:

• Provide notices to users about what data is processed, which specific entities process the data, for which purposes, under which legal justification, and other legal requirements required by various privacy regulations
• Offer a dashboard for users to grant, refuse, or revoke consent
• Create and share granular consent records with entities relying on CMP data, such as advertising and publishing partners, to enable monetization and demonstrate lawful data processing.

In essence, a CMP helps organizations provide transparency to users about what data they collect, where that data ends up, and to what end. For a more detailed deep dive into what a CMP is, what it does, and how to select the best one for your business, check out our dedicated guide:

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When it comes to data privacy, game studios often treat the topic like an afterthought, but by understanding the main aspects of these global privacy regulations (ePrivacy, GDPR, CPRA...), game publishers have an opportunity to optimize game monetization while respecting the privacy of their players.

Didomi has been active in the gaming space for quite a while.

We launched our CMP on Unity three years ago (we were the first in the industry to do so), helped promote good practices in the industry, and have been fervent advocates of privacy-first experiences in gaming:

“The Gaming industry has always been at the forefront of User Experience. For years, game developers have put tremendous resources into their user onboarding and first steps, realizing that the value they provide needed to be delivered in an organized fashion to their new users to create engagement.

In this context, few game developers have managed so far to incorporate complex privacy frameworks such as GDPR into their games as they lacked a correct way to adapt its principles to fit into their rich environments.”

- Romain Gauthier, Co-founder and CEO at Didomi (25 June 2020 - source: Didomi newsroom)

Our CMP is your best bet to optimize consent rate in games, with out-of-the-box integrations Google products like Google AdSense, Ad Manager, or AdMob, and a team of experts to assist during implementation.

To learn everything you need to know about the Didomi SDK setup on your Unity applications on mobile (Android and iOS) and TV (Android TV and tvOS) devices, check out our decicated documentation:

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Get started with the Didomi Consent Management Platform (CMP) 

The team at Didomi has been working since 2017 to build comprehensive solutions for organizations facing compliance and regulatory challenges worldwide.

As mentioned earlier in the article, not only are we Google-certified, but we've also obtained the coveted ISO 27001 certification and are ranked the #1 CMP on G2's 2023 Summer Report.

Among the specific advantages our CMP offers to game publishers, you will find:

• An easy Integration with Unity SDK, for a seamless consent notice implementation experience.
• The tools to boost ad revenue and opt-ins, using real-time analytics
• Consent notices for mobile apps on iOS and Android, integrating with various platforms, including Unity, iOS, Android, React Native, Flutter, and more.
• World-class customer support and expertise, to get the right amount of support throughout your compliance journey

To learn more, head to our dedicated CMP for Gaming page, and book a call with one of our experts to discuss your privacy and compliance challenges:

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